The POGIL Project

PNM 2022 Working Groups

As part of the application to attend the 2022 POGIL National Meeting, applicants are asked to indicate their choice of projects to work on during the meeting. Below is a list of the projects:

  • Addressing Equity: Guidelines for Embracing Equity (Continuing group. New members welcome) 

This group’s ongoing charge is to create Project-wide best practices for keeping diversity/equity/inclusion at the forefront of everything it produces; create a resource list for professional development; create equitable guidelines for writing activities; and write a curriculum for belonging space in the classroom. This year, in concert with other working groups, this group will also begin developing rubrics to measure how successful these best practices and guidelines are in POGIL activities and facilitation in embracing equity in the classroom. Goals 3.1 and 3.4.

  • Addressing Equity: Learning Communities (Continuing group. New members welcome.)

This group is tasked with the development of a Learning Communities program that encourages new practitioners to continue to engage with the POGIL Project as they develop their POGIL practice. The group has developed training, assessment, and has implemented several Learning Communities for the 2021-22 academic year. It is working on developing a curriculum for a second year of participation for mentees,  assessing the program for improvements, and launching a new cohort of Learning Communities next fall. Goals 3 and 5.

  • Addressing Equity: Targeted Recruitment (Continuing group. New members welcome.)  

This group is charged with identifying connections to professional development organizations that will increase The POGIL Project’s profile with members of historically marginalized groups, as well as create mechanisms of feedback from these communities. It will also create a plan to recruit a cohort of practitioners from these groups. Goals 1.1, 1.5, 3.2, and 3.3.

• Advanced Facilitator Experience (New Group)

This group will discuss the creation of new opportunities to allow advanced practitioners to enhance their facilitation skills and participate in Project leadership. Goals 1 and 5.

  • Classroom Observation Protocol (OPTIC)  (Continuing group. New members are welcome.)

This group is finishing up validation of the OPTIC tool, and is moving into the development of  training programs and marketing to support its use. New members who are interested in the development of training materials are welcome. Goals 4.2 and 4.3.

• Evaluating the Impact of POGIL Professional Development (New Group)

This group will create a plan to evaluate the success of POGIL professional development events, including the impact of these events on adoption and continued implementation. (Goal 1.4)

• GILT (Continuing group. New members welcome.)

The GILT (Guided Inquiry Learning with Technology) WG will continue with plans and work on a web-based platform to support POGIL teams and instructors, collect research data, and with the potential to generate robust revenue for The Project (Goal 2.6). During PNM, the WG will provide feedback on the platform, identify next steps for 2022-23, and outline and prioritize future work. The WG seeks members who want to pilot the tools, migrate or author activities, provide feedback to guide development, and explore ways to use the tools for educational research.   Goal 4.

  • Networks (Continuing group. New members welcome.)

This group will focus on POGIL's existing virtual networks, and the identification and development of 2-3 virtual affinity groups. For these affinity groups, this working group will create a best practices document that will answer the questions of: Who will run/administer the groups? What topics will be addressed? What is the structure of the group? What platform will be utilized for meetings? The Networks group will also explore how to leverage current virtual initiatives to support other Project initiatives. This group will also continue to refine materials for robust local networks to provide resources, professional development, and community for current POGIL practitioners while growing and supporting the total number of practitioners.  This effort addresses Goal 5.3.

  • POGIL Activity Clearinghouse  (Continuing group. Limited to current PAC members)

The PAC's purpose is to facilitate the collaboration, peer review, and classroom testing stages associated with creating high-quality materials meeting the standards approved by The POGIL Project. The process of facilitating classroom testing is still awkward. A small group of PAC members will complete the development of a process for classroom testing and providing authors with feedback from the testing process.  The team will need to consider methods of recruiting testers, connecting the author and the testers, and documenting the review process.  The goal of the working group is a plan to modify classroom testing to streamline the process.  Additionally, PAC team members will build connections to the other Working Groups, especially, Networks, High School Activity Revision, and Addressing Equity: Guidelines for Embracing Equity. This working group will only consist of current PAC members. (Goals 2.2, 2.3, 2.5)  

  • Strategic Collaborations (Continuing group. New members welcome.)

This group is charged with developing collaborations with other organizations or projects that are aligned with and further The POGIL Project mission. This may include identifying organizations or projects that offer the most productive opportunities for dissemination of POGIL pedagogy, and developing strategic approaches to providing presentations or workshops at conferences of various professional organizations. This also includes considering what The POGIL Project may have to offer that may be advantageous for these other organizations or projects.  Goal 5.6

  • Workshop Videos  (Continuing group. New members welcome.)

This group will address Goal 1 by developing a suite of videos highlighting facilitation techniques for use in a variety of classrooms. At PNM, the group will edit footage that was shot in the spring for workshop and website use. New group members are welcome, especially those who have video editing experience. 

  • Writing Track Revision (New group)

This new working group will be updating the sessions in The Project's existing 3-day Writing Track workshop. New sessions on DEI awareness, incorporating process skills, and training participants for PAC Collaborative Feedback will need to be developed. Other sessions will be reviewed and revised as needed to reflect recent needs of The Project. It is likely this working group will meet beyond PNM, and into the winter. This group is seeking members who have experience facilitating or participating in the Writing Track sessions. Goal 2.